It is the month of festivals in India and Diwali is the star of the month. New clothes, lots of snacks and sweets, fireworks, etc. mark this festival. I have started my Diwali snack preparations, have you?

It has been all about sundal the past few days and I decided to sneak in a Diwali treat for a change and not to mention the loads of events about Diwali floating around. Of course I had to participate in all of them . Thenkuzhal is an Indian snack that is made using a special murukku maker and is deep fried. I have to warn you that it is addictive and is loved by kids and adults alike. The simplicity of the ingredients is the star of the recipe. Very easy to make and is also very tasty.

Ever since I started blogging, I have been celebrating most festivals in advance just so I don’t have to take pictures of dishes on the D day. In fact, K asked me whether I was celebrating Navaratri a week early. I assume he did not realize that we celebrated Diwali with murukku and ribbon pakoda a month ago . The snacks were long gone and looks like I have to make more batches this month.

This murukku does not use any chilly powder or chilly and is well suited for kids. Off to the recipe.

Notes
1. You can easily double this recipe, but you should make the dough in small batches or else you will end up with brown murukkus rather than white ones. Either way they taste delicious.

Method
Take rice flour in a bowl. You can use homemade or store bought rice flour.

Add urad flour. Here again homemade or store bought will work. If using store bought, dry roast it for few minutes before using.

Add salt.

Add cumin seeds and ghee.

Mix everything together.

Using water form a stiff dough.

We need a murukku maker and this is how mine looks. There are various types of murukkus and for thenkuzhal we use this disc. Think of the murukku maker like a cookie press.

Load the murukku maker with a portion of the dough and form the murukkus. I normally do this directly over the oil, but since I was taking pictures I am doing it over a ladle. You can do it either way.

As you can see it takes any shape.

Heat up oil and deep fry the murukkus.

When the sizzling sound stops, they are done. Drain and move to paper towels.

Can you see how the color of some are white and some are brown? Make murukkus as soon as you make the dough or else the murukkus start turning brown.